As the data revolution continues to sweep across Major League Baseball, fans are increasingly asked to consider new acronyms that help define success.
Gone are the days when knowing a pitcher’s ERA and a batter’s OPS kept you in the know. Now there’s FIP, wRC+, xwOBA and dozens of other statistics that can be dizzying to keep tabs on.
What’s the hottest data point in the Giants’ clubhouse? It might surprise you to know it’s not a complicated new stat, it’s not a number that requires an intense calculation and it’s not even something that’s publicly tracked.
The Giants love TOP, otherwise known as time of possession.
“We talked a lot during spring training as a front office, coaching staff and players about winning time of possession every game which is not something you really hear about in baseball,” Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told KNBR on Tuesday. “But we started thinking that we want pitchers that attack the strike zone, that have quick innings, that throw strikes and we want hitters that are grinding out at-bats.”
You can find time of possession at the bottom of football, soccer and basketball box scores, but it’s not a baseball stat. At least not one that receives any attention.
The first sign the Giants were prioritizing the stat came during spring training, when manager Gabe Kapler did interviews in front of a dry-erase board that emphasized the phrase “Win Time Of Possession.” Kapler and the coaching staff wanted pitchers to pick up the pace on the mound and asked hitters to be selectively aggressive, swinging only at pitches they can “drive.”
To win time of possession, the Giants need their fielders to spend as little time on the field as possible and expect their hitters to extend innings by working deep counts and taking advantage of fatigued opponents.
No individual player has carried out the mission better than starter Alex Wood, who sprints from the top step of the dugout to the mound as soon as the Giants are done hitting and works at a lightning-quick pace that’s left his teammates in awe.
“I think watching Wood do what he does, it’s almost impressive,” fellow starter Logan Webb said. “He gets the ball and he’s back on the mound right away. I don’t think I’ll ever be that quick.”
On Monday against the Rangers, Wood tossed seven innings of one-run ball and racked up seven strikeouts in a game that lasted two hours and 47 minutes. Afterward, Kapler drew a straight line from Wood’s tempo to his results.
“I love Alex’s pace,” Kapler said. “Three of our initiatives as a pitching department are push the pace, pound the zone and know your plan. He pushes the pace as well as anybody. I think he makes hitters uncomfortable as a result.”
After a shaky first inning against the Rangers on Tuesday, Webb met with catchers Curt Casali and Buster Posey in the dugout, who implored him to improve his pace on the mound. Webb struggled to find a rhythm at first, but once he settled in, the 24-year-old set a career-high with 10 strikeouts and only allowed two baserunners over his final five innings.
“I knew I threw over 20 pitches (in the first inning) so I was like, ‘Alright, let’s get start getting some quick outs and start attacking these guys,'” Webb said. “When I did that, the strikeouts started to pile up.”
On offense, the Giants have maintained a consistent approach throughout the season that’s helped neutralize effective starting pitchers and led to longer innings for relievers who are accustomed to short stints on the mound. The Giants’ 4.09 pitches per plate appearance ranks second only to the Yankees in the majors and Brandon Belt’s 4.42 pitches per plate appearance leads all National League hitters.
The Giants have played 36 games this season and an opposing starter has yet to complete seven innings against them. Of the 11 starters to log six innings against the Giants, seven had thrown at least 96 pitches by the time they were removed from the game.
Kapler’s offense took advantage of Wood’s excellent outing on Monday by winning the time of possession battle with a long seventh inning against Rangers reliever John King.
The Texas southpaw entered and recorded two outs before three consecutive pinch-hitters –Austin Slater, Darin Ruf and Mauricio Dubón– reached base to give the Giants a 2-1 lead in a game they’d win 3-1. Dubón’s two-out, go-ahead single came on the eighth pitch of his at-bat as he spoiled five good offerings from King by hitting foul balls.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward ultimately pulled King after he’d thrown 31 pitches, which was his third-highest total in an outing this season. In each of the games King threw 35 pitches, he logged 2 2/3 innings against his opponents.
“I love those innings where you get three or four shots of the opposing manager in his dugout like, ‘When are we going to get out of this inning?’” Zaidi said on KNBR. “Even if you don’t score a run, just seeing the stress on an opposing manager’s face because every one of these guys is having a seven-to-eight pitch at-bat.”